French campaign heats up as Sarkozy declares race open

PARIS: The French presidential election campaign got underway in earnest Thursday after Nicolas Sarkozy staked a claim to be the only leader strong enough to see France through unprecedented crisis.

Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, the right-wing president's Socialist rival and the frontrunner in the opinion polls, have been sparring for months, but Wednesday's official declaration marked the start of the campaign proper.

The French leader's campaign website, emblazoned with the slogan "We need a strong France", went online on Thursday as he took to the campaign trail with a public meeting and visit to a cheese-making plant in the French Alps.

Nearly 11 million viewers had seen his declaration on France's main evening news broadcast, shortly after Hollande had staged a televised rally for 10,000 cheering supporters in his northern hometown of Rouen. (AFP)